Review of Deadline by Mira Grant

Publisher: Orbit

Release Date: June 1, 2011

Series: #2 in the Newflesh Trilogy

More Info:  Amazon   The Book Depository


Book Blurb:

Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organization he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn't seem as fun when you've lost as much as he has.

But when a CDC researcher fakes her own death and appears on his doorstep with a ravenous pack of zombies in tow, Shaun has a newfound interest in life. Because she brings news-he may have put down the monster who attacked them, but the conspiracy is far from dead.

Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun. 

**Contains spoilers for the first book,  "FEED"**

My Thoughts:


Loved it :)

OK, OK, I'll elaborate. :D

I liked "Feed" but it took me about the first 100 pages or so to get into it. I almost put it down and gave up  on several occasions. Happily, I didn't. It was an awesome, well written, all too viable look at what could happen when viruses mutate and the political and sociological ramifications.

"Deadline" picks up about a year after the events in "Feed". Shaun is coping, sort of, with the death of his sister, Georgia, better known as George. Although she is dead, she lives on in Shaun's head: she talks to him, he replies, they have entire conversations. He knows he's crazy, his coworkers know he's crazy, but it works for him. Sort of. He now runs the news organization that he and his sister built and he's given up the crazy adventures he used to love indulging in. He's not the same man he was before and every day is a struggle for him.

"Deadline" is both more personal than "Feed" and a closer look at the science behind the Rising. It's more personal in that we see more of the personal lives, relationships and feelings of the characters involved. But the story also digs deeply into the Kellis-Amberlee virus - how it spreads, how the human body reacts to it, etc. My knowledge and understanding of biology, chemistry, virology etc are not good enough to say how accurate or viable Grant is but it certainly sounds and reads as accurate and possible. 


The book is a balanced mix of characters, action, science, relationships and "Oh F**k!" moments. It's very good, compelling and engaging. Read it. :)


This paperback was received from the publisher for review.